Loop regulating mechanism for full fashioned knitting machines



G. GASTRICH 1,981,035

LOOP REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Nov. 20, 1934.

Filed Sept. 19. 1931 2 Sheets-Shet 1 INVENTOR;

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IIIIII v Nov 20, 1934. G. GASTRICH 1,981,035

LOOP REGULATING MECHANISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES I Filed Sept. 19. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

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Patented Nov. 2c, rese- P TET OFFE i LOOP REGULATIING MECHANISM FOR FULL FASHIONED KNITTING MACHINES Application September 19, 1931, Serial No. 563,762

19 Claims.

My invention relates to full fashioned knitting machines and particularly to improvements in the loop regulating mechanism thereof commonly employed in well known manner to regulate the length of loops drawn by each needle during the laying of successive courses in knitting textile fabrics.

In laying such courses it has been the practice to lay a yarn or yarns along a plurality of needles, project a plurality of sinkers in succession to form loops between alternate pairs of needles, move the needles relatively to the sinkers to provide slack in and between these loops and then simultaneously project a plurality of dividers to form loops between those formed by the sinkers. The needles are adjustably positioned relatively to the dividers and sinkers by the loop regulating mechanism in order to form loops of various sizes. Heretofore the extent of movement of the needles, after formation of loops by the sinkers,

in order to provide slack for the formation of loops by the dividers, has been constant regardless of the size of the loops being formed. It has been-the practice to move'the needles relatively to the sinkers and dividers an amount sufiicient to provide the required amount of slack for forming loops of a size intermediate the smallest and largest which could be formed by the machine.

As a result, when loops of sizes smaller than the intermediate size were being formed the amount of slack was more than necessary or desirable. When loops of sizes larger than the intermediate size were being formed the slack provided was insufficient and in forming the loops the dividers,

have caused bending or springing of the needles or stretching of the yarn or yarns with the possi- Consequently, in one case the loops\have been larger than the size desired and the fabric has been loosely knit while in the other case the loops have been smaller and the elasticity and flexibility of the fabric have been decreased as a result of stretching the yarn or yarns.

In carrying out my invention I obviate the above mentioned disadvantages by providing mechanism in association with the loop controlling devices for eflectingmovements of the needles, after formation of loops by the sinkers, in direct ratio or proportion to the various sized loops which may be formed on the machine.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation, partly in section, of a knitting machine embodying loop regulating mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of part of the loop regulating mechanism shown in Figure 1. 1

Figure 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the loop regulating mechanism shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the formation of loops between alternate pairs of needles by the sinkers.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the regulable movement of the needles after formation of loops by the sinkers.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the formation of loops by the dividers.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, illustrating the presser lever and mechanism for controlling the latter.

Figures 8 and 9 are fragmentary elevational Views similar to Figure l but illustrating the positions of certain partsin different stages of the knitting operation.

Referring to the drawings, the needles 10 are carried by a needle bar llwhich is connected by levers 12 and 13 to a presser lever 14 secured to presser shaft 15. Presser lever 14 is connected near its lower end to a spring 16 which normally holds a roller 17, carried by the lever, in contact with a presser cam 18 on main cam shaft 19, as shown in Figure '7. In the absence of other mechanism the contour of cam 18 would control presser lever 14 to determine the position of the needles 10 relatively to the sinkers 20 and dividers 21. However, the action of cam 18 on presser lever 14 is modified by positioning roller 1'? relatively to cam 18 by means of ,a lever 22 fixed to a loop regulating shaft 23 and having a stud 24 forming a stop against which presser lever 14 is drawn by spring 16. The positioning of stud 24 for modifying the action of cam 18 may be controlled by any of a number of levers secured to shaft 23 and acted on by related cams on cam shaft 19 to form stitches of varying sizes in the same or diiferent courses.

Among the levers that may be provided on loop regulating shaft 23 are the rocking lever 25 fixed to the shaft and contact lever 26 loosely mounted on the shaft, the latter lever carrying a roller 2'7 engageable by the loop regulating cam 28. Rocking lever 25 has an adjustable stop 29 held in engagement with a projection 30 on contact lever 26 by means of a spring 31 connected near the lower end of rocking lever 25, spring 31 also acting to draw roller 2'7 into contact with loop regulating cam 28. Stop 29 is adjustable by means of an operating lever 32, or

a head 33 on the stop to position rocking lever 25 at variable distances from contact lever 26, thus turning shaft 23 to position stud 24 on lever 22 for regulating the size of the loops to be formed. Operating lever 32 is provided for rough adjustments of stop 29' and head 33 for fine adjustments thereof. The above mechanism and its operation is more fully described in the patent to Zwicky, No. 1,417,289 issued May 23, 1922.

In accordance with the herein disclosed embodiment of the present invention, the bifurcated arm 34 of a bell crank 35 pivotally mounted on a stud 36 on contact lever 26 supports a roller :37 engageable by an auxiliary loop regulating cam 38 secured to and mounted in spaced relation to the loop regulating cam 28 by means of fastening bolts 40 and spacers 41. Cam 38 may however be secured to cam shaft 19 and positioned thereon in the proper spatial and angular relationship to cam 28. The other arm 42 of bell crank 35 is connected by a link 43 to a lug 44 integral with a collar 45 fixed to loop regulating shaft 23 so that cam 38 may act through roller 37, bell crank 35 and link 43 to determine the positioning of shaft 23 and the stud 24 on lever 22 carried thereby. The link 43 has an adjustable connection to arm 42 comprising a stud'46 secured to hell crank 35 and extending into a slot 47 in a boss 48 on arm 42. Set screws 49 extend through boss 48 for engagement with the shank of stud 46 to adjust the connection of link 43 to arm 42.

Loop regulating cam 28 acts through roller 27 and contact lever 26 to maintain rocking lever 25 in the position relative to lever 26 to which it has been adjusted by the setting of stop 29. Such adjustments of stop 29 and lever 25 effect a like adjustment of loop. regulating shaft .23 and variably position stud 24 on lever 22 for controlling presser lever 14 to form loops of the desired size. Cam 28 has a depression 50 adapted, immediately prior to the projection of the dividers 20, to permit the contact lever 26 to be moved by spring 31 acting onrocking lever 25. As spring 31 acts to maintain the roller 27 of the contact lever in contact with cam 28 by causing it to enter depression 50, it also acts through rocking lever 25 to turn shaft 23 and position the stud 24 on lever 22 to permit presser lever 14 to be moved by spring 16 for advancing needles 10 relatively to the sinkers 20 and dividers 21.

Thus slack is developed in and between the loops previously formed between alternate pairs of needles, by the successive projection of the sinkers 20, to provide for the formation of similar loops by the dividers 21. The depression 50 in cam 28 is proportioned to provide the proper needle movement for the largest sized loops formed by the sinkers and dividers, the depres- 1 between alternate pairs of needles by the sink-,

ers 20. a I

When stop 29 has been adjusted to provide for the largest size of loops the roller3'7 supported by bell crank 35 is positioned so as not to engage cam 38 as the roller moves towards the cam when roller 27 on contact lever 26 becomes seatedin the depression 50 of cam 28. Howevenadjustment of stop 29 to provide for forming loops of lesser length than the maximum results in movement of rocking lever 25 relatively to contact lever 26 and causes shaft 23 to be turned for adjusting the position of stud 24 on lever 22, as

described above. This turning of shaft 23 also acts through collar 45 and link 43 to turn bell crank 35 about its pivot 36 on contact lever 26. .Consequently, for each adjustment of stop 29 to "provide for the formation of loops of different sizes, roller 37 supported by the bell crank is variably moved toward auxiliary loop regulating cam 38, the movement being proportional to the size of loops for which the different adjustments are made.

When during rotation of cam shaft 19 spring 31 acts to move the roller 2'7 of the contact lever into depression 50 of loop regulating cam 28 the roller 37 supported by'bell crank 35, which is carried along the contact lever 26, is moved into engagement with a portion of the periphery of the-auxiliary loop regulating cam 38 which overlaps the depression 50 and thus acts to hold roller 27 from being seated in the depression 50 of loop regulating cam 28. The adjustment of stop 29 for positioning rocking lever 25 relatively to contact lever 26 determines this movement of roller 37 to engage cam 38 and consequently controls the turning movement of loop regulating shaft 23 for positioning stud 24 on arm 22 to control movement of the needles 10 relatively to the sinkers and dividers after loops have been formed by the sinkers.

As seen in Fig. 1, the auxiliary cam 38 is arouately slotted to receive the bolts 40, whereby the cam 38 may be secured in different adjusted positions axially of the shaft 19, thus to previsedly control the duration of the auxiliary cams action upon the roller 37, and hence the limiting effect upon the travel of the roller 2'7 toward the base of the depression 50, thus functioning as fine-adjustment means for such travel.

Consequently, the movement of the needles to provide slack for formation of loops by the dividers is in proportion to the size of loop for which adjustment has been made. The various cooperating parts may be so arranged and proportioned that this movement of the needles will be to an extent equal, for example, to one half the length of the loops formed by the sinkers, thus providing an amount of slack sufficient to enable the dividers to form loops between those already formed without causing springing of the needles or stretching of the yarn or yarns and so that the tension of all the loops formed by the sinkers and dividers acting together is substantially the same.

What I claim is:

1. In a knitting machine having loop-forming elements including knitting needles and associated sinkers and dividers, loop regulating means coacting with said loop-forming elements and adjustable to different positions for producing fabric loops of different predetermined lengths, and means coacting with said loop regulating means for modifying its action on the loop-forming elements to equalize the size of the loops respectively formed by the sinkers and dividers in each of said adjusted positions of the loop regulating means.

2. In a knitting machine having loop-forming elements including knitting needles and associated sinkers and dividers, loop regulating means coacting with said needles and adjustable to different positions for producing fabric loops of different predetermined lengths, and means coacting with said loop regulating means for modifying its action on said needles to equalize the size of the loops respectively formed by the sinkers and 3. In a knitting machine having loop-forming elements including knitting needles and associated sinkers and dividers, loop regulating means coacting with said loop-forming elements and adjustable to different positions for producing fabric loops of different predetermined lengths, and means automatically actuated by said loop regulating means and coacting therewith for modifying its action on the loop-forming elements to equalize the size of the loops respectively formed by the sinkers and dividers in each of said adjusted positions of the loop regulating means.

4. In a knitting machine having knitting needles and associated loop-forming sinkers and dividers, a loop-stitch regulating mechanism comprising a stitch regulating cam, and means cooperating with said cam for varying its action on said needles to equalize the size of the loops formed by the sinkers and dividers.

5. In a knitting machine having knitting needles and associated loop-forming sinkers and dividers, loop-stitch regulating mechanism comprising a stitch regulating cam, and means including an auxiliary cam cooperating with said stitch regulating cam for varying its action on said needles to equalize the size of the loops formed by the sinkers and dividers.

6. In a knitting machine having knitting needles and associated loop-forming sinkers and dividers, loop-stitch regulating mechanism including a regulating cam, an auxiliary cam cooperating with said regulating cam for varying the latters action on said needles to equalize the size of loops formed by said sinkers and dividers, said auxiliary cam including modifyingmeans to control the duration of its effective cooperation with said regulating cam.

7. In a knitting machine having a cam shaft, knitting needles and associated loop forming sinkers and dividers, and loop stitch regulating mechanism including a loop-regulating cam on said cam shaft, a loop regulating shaft and an adjustable loop stitch regulating device operatively associated with said loop regulating cam and loopregulating shaft, an auxiliary cam-arranged to cooperate with said loop regulating cam to vary the latters action on said adjustable loop stitch regulating device, said auxiliary cam including means to alter the duration of the cooperative relation between said loop regulating cam and loop-stitch regulating device.

8. In a knitting machine, a loop regulating shaft, means for controlling said shaft comprising a loop regulating cam having a depression and a lever having a cam follower, adjustable means for regulating the control of said shaft by said controlling means, and means controlled by said adjustable means for limiting the travel of said follower in its movement toward the base of said depression.

9. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a loop regulating shaft; means for controlling said shaft comprising a contact lever on said shaft, a cam follower carried by said lever, a rotary cam having a depression which said follower enters to permit an angular movement of said shaft; and means controlling said cam follower to variably limit said angular movement of said shaft.

10. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a loop regulating shaft, and means for controlling said shaft comprising, a contact lever mounted thereon, a cam follower on said lever, and a rotary cam having a depression which said follower enters to permit an angular movement of said shaft;

a second rotary cam; and a cam follower engageable with said second cam to control said first cam follower and limit said angular movement of said shaft.

11. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a loop regulating shaft, and means for controlling said shaft comprising, a contact lever mounted thereon, a cam follower on said lever, and a rotary cam having a depression which said follower enters to permit an angular movement of said shaft; a second rotary cam; a cam follower movable with said first cam follower and engageable with said second cam for limiting said angular movement of said shaft, said second follower being normally positioned to prevent-its engagement with said second cam.

12. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a loop regulating shaft, and means for controlling said'shaft comprising, a contact lever mounted thereon, a cam follower on said lever, and a rotary cam having a depression which said follower enters to permit an angular movement of said shaft; a second rotary cam; a cam follower movable with said first cam follower and engageable with said second cam for limiting said angular movement of said shaft, said second follower being normally'positioned to prevent its engagement with said second cam and means for positioning said second cam follower to enable it to engage said second cam on movement with said first cam follower.

13. In a full fashioned knitting machine having a loop regulating shaft, and means for controlling said shaft comprising, a contact lever mounted thereon, a cam follower on said lever, and a rotary cam having a depression which said follower enters to permit an angular movement of said shaft; a second rotary cam; a cam follower movable with said first cam follower and engageable with said second cam for limiting said angular movement of said shaft, said second follower being normally positioned to prevent its engagement with said second cam. and adjustable means for positioning said second cam follower to enable its engagement with said second cam and for varying the extent of its movement to regulate said angular movement of said shaft.

14. In 'a full fashioned knitting machine the combination with loop regulating mechanism including a loop regulating shaft, a rotary cam shaft having thereon a cam provided with a depression, and a contact lever mounted on said regulating shaft and provided with a cam follower engaging said cam and adapted to be seated in said depression during a part of the rotation thereof; of an .auxiliary cam on said cam shaft, a roller carried by a support mounted on said contact lever and adapted to engage said auxiliary cam, while said cam follower remains in engaging relation with said first cam, to limit the travel of said follower toward the base of said depression.

15. In a full fashioned knitting machine the combination with loop regulating mechanism including a loop regulating shaft, a rotary cam shaft having thereon a cam provided with a depression, and a contact lever mounted on said regulating shaft and provided with a cam folsupport to variably position said roller relatively 150 to said second cam for limiting said turning movement of said shaft when said cam follower enters said depression.

16. In a full fashioned knitting machine having loop regulating mechanism comprising, a loop regulating shaft, a contact lever loosely mounted on said shaft and having a cam follower, a rocking lever fixed to said shaft, an adjustable stop for regulating the position of said rocking lever relatively to said contact lever and for effecting angular adjustment of said shaft, and a rotary -cam shaft having a cam engaged by said cam follower to maintain said regulating shaft in its adjusted position, said cam having a depression which said follower is adapted to enter, during rotation of said cam, to permit a turning movement of said shaft; a second cam on said cam shaft; and a roller normally disengaged from said second cam and movable into engagement therewith for controlling the movement of said cam follower into said depression of said first cam to limit said turning movement of said shaft.

17. In a full fashioned knitting machine having loop regulating mechanism comprising, a loop regulating shaft, a contact lever loosely mounted on said shaft and having a cam follower, a rocking lever fixed to said shaft, an adjustable stop for regulating the position of said ,rocking lever relatively to said contact lever and for effecting angular adjustment of said shaft, and a rotary cam shafthaving a cam engaged by said cam follower to maintain said regulating shaft in its adjusted position, said cam having a depression which said follower is adapted to enter, during rotation of said cam, to permit a turning movement of said shaft; a second cam on said cam shaft; and a roller normally disensaid first cam.

18. In a full fashioned knitting machine having rotation of said cam, to permit a-turning movement of said shaft; a second cam on said cam shaft; a roller supported by a bell crank pivotally mounted on said contact lever, said roller being normally positioned out of engagement with said I second cam and being adapted to engage the latter, when said cam follower enters said depression, to limit said turning movement of said regulating shaft.

19. In a full fashioned knitting machine having loop regulating mechanism comprising, a loop regulating shaft, a contact lever loosely mounted on said shaft and having a cam follower, a rocking lever fixed to said shaft, an adjustable stop for regulating the position of said rocking lever relatively to said contact lever and for effecting angular adjustment of said shaft, and a rotary cam shaft having a cam engaged by said cam follower to maintain said regulating shaft in its adjusted position, said cam having a depression which said follower is adapted to enter, during rotation of said cam, to permit a turning movement of said shaft; a second cam on said cam shaft; a roller supported by a bell crank pivotally mounted on said contact lever, said. roller being normally positioned out of engagement with said second cam and being adapted to engage the latter, when said cam follower enters said depression, to limit said turning movement of said regulating shaft; and means associated with said bell crank and controlled by said adjustment of said rocking lever to pivot said bell crank for positioning said roller for engagement with said second cam when said cam follower enters said depression.

GUSTAV GASTRICH. 

